Mercury representng Commerce and two allegorical figures

Mercury representng Commerce and two allegorical figures by Frederick William Pomeroy (1857-1924). Location: Electra House (now part of the London Guildhall University). Architects: Belcher and Joass. 1900-1903. On Moorgate on the east side of the street between Finsbury Circus and London Wall, London EC2.

Mercury, who represents commerce, stands at view's left holding his caduceus and bag of coins while on the right a young man writes on a tablet, which he holds in his hands (a slant-top writing desk appears at the edge of the bas relief). In the center a braided female figure sits with a gear resting against the side of her chair while she holds an unrolled length of fabric on her lap with one hand and a spindle with cotton or wool in the other. She represents industry. [Compare Pomeroy's other panel.]

Photographs and caption by Robert Freidus. Formatting, perspective correction, and commentary ” by George P. Landow. [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Bibliography

Beattie, Susan. The New Sculpture. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983.

Ward-Jackson, Philip. Public Sculpture of the City of London. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2003.


Last modified 24 July 2011